I'm an extrovert but I also live alone with no family or children, and after dislocating my hip two summers ago, have a heightened sense of vulnerability.

So I pick and choose what I feel comfortable doing these days. I go to a fiber artist group on Thursdays, volunteer two afternoons a month at a "boutique" for low-income kids to "shop" for clothes, and go to restaurants. I always chat up cashiers and other service workers. I wear a mask in those settings, as do one or two other older women.

I will be attending an art camp in June, to which I will be driving. I hadn't gone since 2019. But I will be staying in a private room with a private bathroom and will be masking. I will not eat in the indoor dining hall, as it is very crowded and people sit cheek to jowl, talking loudly. I will eat outside.

I will not get on a plane (not that I did before covid), as I know 3 friends who got sick after plane rides where they were the only masked person, despite being vaccinated. I won't attend indoor concerts or other crowded indoor events, but again, I hardly did that in the Before Times.

I still wear a mask at the grocery store and the boutique, because it's not a big deal, but getting sick would be. The boutique is a tightly enclosed space with poor ventilation. So 90 minutes with a mask is no biggie.

I just heard that an Instagram artist friend was one of 7 people in a group of 9 knitters who got covid pretty bad after a restaurant get together. Plus two husbands and the waiter. So it's not over.

For me, I try to balance enjoying life vs "throwing caution to the wind." Some things are worth the risk to me, others aren't. And I'm enjoying not having had a cold or the flu since 2019.